Rita
Hayworth dances and
sings "Put the Blame on Mame..." in "Gilda"
in the Screen Sirens Gallery

All photographs by Michele Leight except where noted

By Michele
Leight

What a
treat it was to enter
a romantically lit gallery at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York and see mannequins dressed as heiresses - or fairy-tale
princesses - in ballgowns and ornate "up-dos" at "American
Woman: Fashioning a National Identity." The show, which runs from May 15 to August 15, 2010, was
organized by Andrew Bolton, Curator, The Costume Institute, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and sponsored by the GAP, with additional
support from Conde Nast. Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue magazine,
was acknowledged by Thomas P. Campbell, the director of the museum as the driving
force behind the famous annual spring shows, adding that the proceeds
of the ticket sales from the evening gala accounts for a substantial
portion of the annual budget of the Met's famed Costume Institute.
He added with a smile that tickets were sold out months in advance.

Far from
being just a series
of pleasant vignettes of fashion through the ages, this show traced
the intersection of fashion with feminism, and included moving
documentary footage of suffragettes in action, those now mythical
ladies who risked a great deal so that the rest of us could vote,
work and choose to live the lives we live today. I found myself
riveted to the screens, and moved by their efforts.

This
exhibition celebrates
the transfer of the Brooklyn Museum's Costume Collection to The
Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute, and complements "American
High Style: Fashioning a National Collection" on view at
the Brooklyn Museum. The introductory wall text to the exhibition
noted: "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity"
also marks the "genesis of the American Diana and her triumph
over the French Venus. Organized in a succession of archetypes
based on mass-media representations of American women from the
1890s to the 1940s, the exhibition examines how fashion intersected
with feminism to become a liberating force for women in America.
For the American woman physical and fashionable appearance became
a primary vehicle through which she expressed social, political,
economical and even sexual emancipation and emerged as a spirited
symbol of progress, modernity and, ultimately, Americanness."

The
heiress was the first mass-media
archetype, epitomized by great beauties like Consuelo Vanderbilt
or Nancy Astor. The Met has a magnificent portrait of Consuelo
Vanderbilt, with her son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, by Giovanni
Boldini. One of her favorite relatives was Winston Churchill,
whose mother was Jenny Jerome, another American "dollar princess"
who married into Europen aristocracy because of a sizeable fortune.
This was common at a time when the fortunes of aristorcats were
dwindling. Titles were traded for money essentially, and although
Consuelo married because her mother wanted her to snag a title,
it was not long before she and the 9th Duke of Marlborough were
divorced. However, she remained friends with several members of
the noble Marlborough family, including Winston Churchill, who
continued to visit Consuelo at her estate in France. He did his
last painting there before World War II began and his attention
became totally focused on the World War II.

The
manners and wardrobes of
these "grandes dames" reflected European aristocratic
taste, and their dresses were inevitably French. Their evening
gowns most often came from the legendary house of Worth in Paris,
whose founder Charles Frederick Worth, had a preference for American
clients. When he was asked why this was so he said "they
have faith, figures and francs - faith to believe in me, figures
that I can put into shape, and francs to pay my bills." The
"Court Presentation Ensemble," circa 1896, (illustrated),
is French and attributed to Jean-Philippe Worth. It was worn by
Emily Warren Roebling (1843-1903) at her formal presentation to
Queen Victoria at the Court of St. James, and later that same
year to the coronation of the ill-fated czar and zarina, Nicholas
II and Alexandra Fyodorovna) of Russia. The catalog notes: "Emily
was the wife of Washington Augustus Roebling (1837-1926), son
of John R. Roebling (1806-1869), designer of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Washington became chief engineer after his father's death. When
Washington developed caisson disease, preventing his further physical
involvement, Emily Roebling took over the on-site supervision
of the project, ensuring her husband's ability to remain in charge
despite his illness until the bridge was completed in 1883."

When a
situation demanded it,
women proved more than equipped to do what was then called "mans
work."

Detail
of "Ball Gown,"
by Jean-Phillipe Worth, showing butterflies

Readers
familiar with Edith
Wharton, Willa Cather, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte or Henry
James will perhaps know that some heiresses lived in lonely gilded
cages, were required to sing a happy tune, and do what male dominated
society expected of them (or else). Other great classic novels
and films feature heroines that did not toe the line, like poor
Tess of the D'Urbevilles, Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina, with
disastrous results. Modern heiresses are also cited at this show,
the difference is that today many of them have careers. Heroines
of my favorite novels - spanning centuries - leapt to vivid life
at this show, as I imagined them wearing similar clothes, set
against wonderful backdrops designed by Nathan Crowley, with Jamie
Rama and Center Line Studios. The Heiress gallery was inspired
by Nancy Astors ballroom at "Beechwood," her home in
Newport, Rhode Island.

Towards the end of the 19th
century rumblings of discontent
were felt in the palm-dotted conservatories of the priveliged
classes. Rich ladies were not expected to work, but some managed
to do more than look decorative, have children and keep a fabulous
home. Talented female writers, artists, poets and scholars did
manage to bore through the mire of sexist attitudes of their day,
and their work lives on to prove it. Edith Wharton came from a
priveliged backgrounds and was fortunate to be able to write without
worrying about finances. "House of Mirth" won The Pulitzer
Prize in 1921, making Ms. Wharton the first woman to win it. The
heroine of this novel, Lily Bart, runs afoul of a society that
she describes as "a hot house of traditions and conventions,"
and ends up dying alone in a boarding house. Wharton exposed the
harsh truth about women's lives, no matter what background they
came from. Her stories are incisive, and ironic. Poorer ladies
have always worked - like Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre"
- but back then they were not recognized or credited for their
achievements, and they were certainly not paid well. Jane Eyre
would hav worn a much less fine version of the lavender silk dress
by Worth, illustrated at the top of this story, supported by a
crinoline. "My Antonia," is a superb novel by Willa
Cather that features a more independent heroine, who helps work
the family farm as she raises her large family as a newly arrived
immigrant in Nebraska. Willa Cather went to college and earned
a B.A. in English. She won a Pulitzer for "One of Ours"
in 1922. All these writers had a huge impact on the women of their
generation.

The
emancipation of women -
the emergence of the butterfly from the crysalis - is portrayed
in a succession of themed galleries, beginning with "The
Heiress," symbolized by the exquisite "Ball Gown,"
circa 1898, by Jean-Phillipe Worth, illustrated here, with a detail
of the butterflies that adorn it. This work of art was formerly
in the collection of Jane Norton Grew Morgan, or Mrs. J.P. Morgan,
Jr. The "Riding Ensemble" illustrated below is from
the catalogue for this exhibition "High Style : Masterworks
from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan
Museum of Art" dated 1898. This riding outfit was less
conventional, and includes pants or jodhpurs, and was worn by
a famous heiress , Eleanor Hewitt, whose contribution to the decorative
arts was enormous, and who rode in the privacy of her estate "Ringwood
Manor" in Northern New Jersey. The designer of this avant
garde outfit - which allowed a woman to ride astride her horse,
instead of side-saddle - was American. The entire ensemble includes
a tailored jacket, several interchangeable man-tailored wool vests,
a mid-calf-length suede skirt, two pairs of suede jodhpurs, and
knee high gaiters. Having a private place to ride was not possible
for the average woman, who would have had to forgo jodhpurs.

The Gibson
Girl gallery (1890s)
moved the action outdoors, symbolizing a distinctive type of "American
beauty" that challenged European hegemony over accepted standards
of style and beauty. The backdrops were inspired by the illustrations
of Coles Phillips, Charles Dana Gibson, Howard Chandler Christy,
Harrison Fisher, and J.C. Leyendecker. All the sets were designed
by Nathan Crowley, with Jamie Rama and Center Line Studios. In
previous generations, other than riding, women barely played sports
because among other things their clothes were far too cumbersome.
Sports were also considered a male preserve.

"Vacation," by
J.C. Layendecker, photo from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Suddenly,
Charles Dana Gibson's
illustrations of "The Gibson Girl" - his own creation
- in Life Magazine (mid 1890s) made her an instant sensation.
Depicted as tall and slender, with long limbs, classical features,
and hair tied up in a chignon, this archetype was depicted as
fairly aristocraic, but she also transcended age and class barriers.
Reflecting the times, when women were seeking emancipation, she
was confident and commanding. It was The Gibson Girls ability
and freedom to play sports - to exercize - that exemplified the
new American woman's assertion of herself, and her increasing
independence.The illustration above, by J.C. Layendecker, depicts
a vacation with accessories like the tennis racket and golf clubs,
active sport, not passivity.

As the
illustrations show,
The Gibson Girl still wears corsets and long dresses, but the
"bifurcated" skirt - the beginning of trousers for women
- made its appearance, which allowed women greater freedom to
try out new sports like bicycle riding by the end of the 19th
century. Tennis, golf, boating, swimming and skating outfits still
look terribly cumbersome by today's standards, but at least women
got out into the fresh air. Yards of fabric were replaced by simpler,
tailored suits and dresses for day wear, and practical shirtwaist
blouses and skirts for sports. While the riding habits of aristocratic
women are familiar to us from films and novels, this show, and
the catalog, offer many more examples of outfits women wore to
play tennis, golf, ice-skate and swim. American women spent far
more time outdoors playing sports than their European counterparts,
which had a profound impact on her physique.

The
Bohemians Gallery (1900s)
was stunningly beautiful, complementing the connection between
the arts and the exotic avant-garde fashions favored by the "Bohemian"
archetype of the American woman. Extremely individualistic, these
women used the arts - rather than sports - to further their development
as independent individuals. Tiffany lamps cast an warm glow in
the wood paneled room with Tiffany leaded glass windows, inspired
by The Tiffany House, New York. The Bohemian was financially well
off, and did not "make art" but consumed it - by patronizing
the arts and artists, organizing exhibitions, and founding museums.
The Bohemian favored dramatic fashions that made bold statements,
epitomized by the more artistic design houses, such as Callot
Soeurs, Poiret, and Liberty and Co. The looser fitting, un-corseted
silhouette was instantly noticeable, as were the exotic fabrics
and exquisite ornamentation, inspired by classicism, Orientalism,
and medievalism - and the Arts and Crafts Movement. The unconstricted
female body is finally visible, mirroring further development
towards independence and individuality. The shoes were a show
stopper - quite literally works of art.

A case of
exquisite shoes in
The Bohemians gallery was hard to miss. Outfits as luscious as
these had to have complementary footwear. Although many of the
shoes were adorned with lace, the catalog illustrates and describes
one pair in particular, because they belonged to Rita de Acosta
Lydig, (1869-1942), who exemplified the American Bohemian archetype:
"Lydig's wardrobe was an expression of her quest for artistic
individuation. Her idiosyncratic style, best described as 'bohemian,'
'melded an old-world ambience with avant-garde daring. Lydig was
the inspiration for famous artists and photographers, including
Edward Steichen, Baron Adolf de Meyer and Giovanni Boldini. A
passionate collector of seventeenth and eighteenth-century laces,
she commissioned the couture house Callot Soeurs, specialists
in lace, to make up tunics, blouses and bags using them. One of
her most recognizable ensembles paired the tunics with one-piece
bifurcated satin garments draped between the legs like the Indian
dhoti, an adventurous and idiosyncratic look in the
pre-World
War I period." It is likely that Lydig supplied the lace
for her shoes. Yantorny applied identical motifs to each shoe
in exactly the same pattern, which would have required cutting
out the pieces from a larger piece of lace. Over two dozen pairs
of Lydig's Yantorny's shoes have survived, but she is reputed
to have had several hundred.

The
Patriot and The Suffragist
Gallery was dominated by large movie screens with documentary
footage of the indomitable ladies in action: marching in formation
down Fifth Avenue, aiding the War effort, working as nurses, and
motivating crowds with speeches about womens rights, and the right
to vote. It was deeply moving to see actual footage of them. They
have become so mythical, it was a jolt to watch them right there,
urging women to fight for rights we now take totally for granted.
Documentary footage showed how organized the suffragists were,
and how hard won any kind of "rights" are. Millions
of women across the world still struggle to have them. Military
uniforms and far more practical attire emerged to accommodate
thousands of women as they entered the armed forces or workforce
once that became possible - because it was necessary. What women
wore had huge significance in the struggle for emancipation.

The wall
text from the gallery
gave the historical context of the clothes, and the film footage:

"The
Bohemian's involvement
in the arts, like The Gibson Girls participation in sports, helped
advance equality for women, a cause for which the American woman
had been campaigning since The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848,
where the right to vote was her most radical demand. Women's suffrage
received its greatest impetus when the United States entered World
War I on April 16, 1917. During the war, more that 40,000 female
patriots served in relief and military duty. Commenting on women's
wartime service, President Woodrow Wilson observed, "Unless
we enfranchize women, we shall have fought to enfranchize a democracy
which, to that extent, we have never bothered to create."
With the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to The United
States Constitution on August 18th, 1920, female citizens were
finally given the right to vote. Over their seventy-one year struggle
for voting rights, suffragists mobilized various practices of
display for political purposes, the most significant being fashion.
Through the use of specific colors, such as gold or the tri-colors
purple, white and green, (and, later, purple, white and gold),
suffragists forged a visibly shared public identity. The American
woman's adoption of these colors signified her identification
and performance as a suffragist, as did her adoption of the latest
fashions and accessories. For the suffragist, fashionable dress
was a form of feminine protest. By co-opting the practices of
conventional femininity, she demanded that women be political
subjects because of - not in spite of - their sexuality."

The
Flapper Gallery, with backdrops
inspired by the paintings of Tamara de Lempika: A mannequin attired
in glamorous ostrich feather boa and fan, and "just-below-the-knee
sheath dress

The
silhouettes in the Flapper
Gallery reflected women's liberation. They were slimmer and more
androgynous. Suddenly, the hems were up, arms were bare, and necklines
scooped the neck. The underpinnings or undergarments that for
so long had influenced the appearance of womens figures, had all
but disappeared. The dresses look more natural because of fitter
bodies - that exercized - that no longer required "support."
Euphoria in achieving the right to vote had an enormous impact
on women, which manifested in greater freedom in her clothes,
hair and make-up. The Roaring Twenties had arrived, and with it
a new era for womanhood. Unlike the Gibson Girl, who was a distinctly
American beauty, the flapper became popular as an American and
an international icon The low-waisted, short skirted, loose-top
"tube" - or sheath dress - became the flapper uniform,
its vertical and angular proportions echoing the skyscrapers rising
up around her. She was sexually liberated, urban, the epitome
of modernity. These were clothes to work in, play sports in, or
go dancing in, and they soon appeared in an entirely new context
- Hollywood movies - that had enormous global impact. The backdrops
were inspired by the paintings of Tamara de Lempika, and wall
text at the introduction to the show noted:

"By the
1920s the American
woman was slim, athletic and youthful. Patou came to refer to
her as 'the slender American Diana,' an ideal he compared to (and
pitted against), her continental counterpart, 'the rounded French
Venus.' The French couturier was not alone in his praise of the
American woman's graceful greyhound silhouette, which he ascribed
to her vigorous outdoor lifestyle. Collette, writing in French
Vogue about Patou's imported American mannequins predicted: 'This
squad of archangels in a chaste flight unimpeded by the flesh,
will reorient fashion toward an increasingly slender line.'"

It is
interesting to see how
the early, more voluminous dresses, suited the "French Venus"
body type, while the pared down, elegant lines of evolving fashion
suited the slender, athletic "Diana's."

"Trussing"
the female form to look shapely was radically replaced by bodies
that were in great shape. It was a carefree, heady
time
for women, and several innovative women designers emerged as a
formidable force in fashion - from France Elsa Schiaparelli, Jeanne
Lanvin, Callot Soeurs (also from The Bohemian era), Madeleine
Vionnet, Gabrielle Chanel, Madame Alix Gres, among others. American
women designers like Jessie Franklin Turner, Elizabeth Hawes,
Madame Eta Hentz, Claire McCardell, Bonnie Cashin and Vera Maxwell
broadened the field of fashion to include noticeably more "sportswear"
as well as sophisticated evening wear that became highly visible
on movie screens during Hollywood's Golden Age.

The stunning green
and black "Dinner Ensemble" illustrated below is by
the brilliant Elsa Schiaparelli (French, born in Italy, 1890-1973),
who used custom textiles, like this luscious mottled pattern of
deep greens, injected with gold wood-grain motif, that "transmogrifies
the human body like a fleeing Daphne, into a tree. Deploying industrial
zippers as decoration on evening wear was an early iconoclastic
gesture that became a signature Schiaparelli design element."
( From the catalogue "High Style: Masterworks from the Brooklyn
Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art).
The co-ordinating shoes are by Andre Perugia (French, 1893-1977).

There is a formal tweed pantsuit by Schiaparelli in the catalogue
that is decades ahead of its time.While her signature structured
jacket was mainstream by the 1930s, pants were accepted attire
only for sports related activities, with few exceptions. It was
not until Yves Saint Laurent and Andre Courreges introduced pantsuits
in the 1960s that they became mainstream fashion.

The Screen
Sirens Gallery was
a personal favorite, featuring Rita Hayworth, Anna May Wong, Marlene
Deitrich, Katherine Hepburn and Lena Horne, among other stars
of the Golden Age of Hollywood, the 1930s, by which time these
films had absolute influence internationally. The girlish, flirtatious
flapper was replaced by the more womanly, sensuous, and sophisticated
screen siren. The back and forth of male-female relatonships is
rendered in celluloid in films like "Bringing Up Baby,"
with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, who brought with them the
delicious gift of humor. Edgier is "Gilda" starring
Rita Hayworth, who is total dynamite on screen, and a lady that
clearly understood that working her talents to the
hilt
was true liberation. This is an empowered woman, whose success
did not rest on her looks alone - and it could have, because she
was exceptionally beautiful. She clearly relished her work.

Marlene
Dietrich smolders on screen,
flanked by sinuous silk jersey evening gowns with halter necks,
among other innovations. On the far left is the dramatic back
of Jeanne Lanvin's "Phedre" Evening Dress (Fall 1933).
Front illustrated below

Large
screens featuring clips
from movies starring some of the most acclaimed actresses of the
30s and 40s - the Golden Age of Hollywood. It is easy to see from
their all-out glamour, and the clothes they wore, how they blew
audiences away with their style, talent and confidence. They are
just as impressive today. Besides being great actresses, many
of the screen goddesses sang and danced like a dream - in high
heels. They were in prime physical shape. Dancers like Ginger
Rogers and Rita Hayworth required fluid gowns that did not impede
movement. This was an exciting new venue for fashion, and halter
necks, backless, strapless dresses burst onto the movie screen.
They were designed by the best, impeccably tailored, and often
fashioned from fluid fabrics that worked with the body, not against
it. A screen icon whose dress sense matched her independent spirit
was Katherine Hepburn, who played sports and wore trousers off
the golf course before it became the norm. These ladies were hugely
influential on fashion. Women who saw their films wanted to dress
like them. Jeanne Lanvin's dramatic "Phedre" evening
dress, (illustrated above), drew great praise from Harpers Bazaar
in January 1934: "One of the most beautiful gowns that the
mid-season collections brought forth is a Lanvin model called
'Phedre.' It is of black crepe Francoise, with long tight sleeves
that forget themselves at the shoulders, and a seductive fish
tail, which turns back at the corners to show silver lame, sure
sign of a Lanvin gown." (Catalogue)

While
Hollywood was certainly
in the business of selling fantasy and illusion, it is noticeable
that many of the gowns that came out of the studios were wearable.
Jessie Franklin Turner's luscious gold lame dress, illustrated
above, was and is a show stopper. It is exquisitely styled, can
be adapted to any stretchy fabric - like jersey - and similar
dresses in different lengths are worn today.

Travis Banton's "Dragon
Dress" for Anna May Wong is so incredible it is really just
for the silver screen - or an opera diva. Overall the silhouettes
in the Screen Sirens gallery looked far more stylish and comfortable
than the tightly belted, "armored-bra" silhouettes of
the 50s, for example, designed over a decade later.

The
glamorous screen sirens
were slim but curvaceous, and many of the dresses of this era,
especially the evening gowns, appear to be "molded"
to the body. Designed for the camera, they were also classically
oriented, often cut on the bias to emphasize the contours of the
body.

Designers like Madeline Vionnet and Madame Gres used draping,
twisting and wrapping to enhance the natural figure. Both designers
were inseparable from glamour, and the look they created continues
to characterize the American woman today, together with the slim,
youthful, athletic flapper.The evening ensemble illustrated below,
and at the top of this story, is by Jeanne Lanvin. Other designers
whose gowns were featured in the Screen Sirens Gallery included,
Charles James, (American, born England), Madame Eta Henz, (American,
born Hungary), Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, (French), Jessie Franklin
Turner (American) and Travis Banton, (American), whose "Dragon
Dress" is illustrated below. On screen is Rita Hayworth,
dancing her famous routine in "Gilda."

Left
and at the top of the story:
"Evening Ensemble," by Jeanne Lanvin, spring/summer
1935, Dress of ivory silk satin; jacket of ivory silk georgette
trimmed with quilted silk satin; Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection
at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Gift of the Brooklyn Museum,
2009; Gift of Ogden Goelet, Peter Goelet, and Madison Clews, in
memory of Mrs. Henry Clews, 1960. On screen: Rita Hayworth dancing
in "Gilda"

The
American designer Charles
James (born England, 1906-1978) features prominently in the catalogue, as he went on to become
one of the premier couturiers of American women for several decades.

"Tree" ball gown, 1955, Charles James, photo from catalogue

The
cover illustration of the catalogue is his "Tree" ball gown from 1955
of rose pink silk taffeta, white silk satin, red, pink and white tulle.
"Reshaping the body through corsetry was one of James's lifelong
fascinations. The quinetessential feminine shape is perfected in
this dress through rigid interior boning in the bodice and
intricately tucked exterior hip drapery. As an added touch of
sheer romanticism, the bouffant skirt is faced with rich shit
satin and supported by a profusion of colored tulle, a hidden blossom
made visible with movement. Deploying a double entendre, James named
the design for one of his clients, Marietta Peabody Fitzgerald Tree,
mother of the model Penelope Tree, and also a reference to the plant
form, which the silhoutte, uiprooted, resembles," according to the
catalogue.

In
describing James famous dress "La
Sirene," (illustrated), the catalogue notes: "Transcending
the style of three decades, James produced this dress, one of
his most popular designs, from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s.
While its lines correspond to the slinky silhouettes of glamourous
1930s fashions, it parts company with the bias cut sheaths of
that decade in cut, construction and attitude. The tapered front
spinelike element, supporting proportionally spaced upward tucks,
adds an edgy anatomical feature, ambiguously suggestive of crustacean,
reptilian or human skeletal forms, a signature James conceit."

The
emphasis of this show was
on ladies from the upper echelons of society, but their impact
upon mainstream women became universal because of mass media,
primarily through its depictions of The Gibson Girls playing sports
in lest restrictive clothing and hairstyles. This "sporty"
sense of style was then at the disposal of any woman with imagination,
who could adapt what she saw in the illustrations for her own
purposes. The most significant influence in the early stages of
emancipation was The Gibson Girl was her advocation of sports,
and independent spirit, which persists till today.

"Lucille Brokaw,"
by Martin Munkcasi, 1933, photo from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The
evolution of fashion and
feminism culminates in the final gallery, a room filled with media
and film images of "American women," from the past to
the present - including tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams,
Michele Obama, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jennifer Lopez,
Lady Gaga, Madonna, Diane Keaton, Iman, Sandra Day O'Connor, Esther
Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Ava Gardner, Sofia Coppola,
Hale Berry, Melind Gates, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and many other
iconic movie stars, models and women that have achieved extrordinary
success in every possible field. Clothes that virtually imprison
or smother the body - beautiful as they are - in the earlier galleries,
become fluid and unconstricted, until they are the recognizable
outfits visible on contemporary American women today. The comfortable
"sporty" American look has evolved into an international,
uniform, the most fundamental components being the cotton jersey
T shirt and denim jeans. GAP, the sponsor of this show, is a global
franchize that has perfected affordable, and practical "everyday
wear" that we would be lost without today. It is quintessentially
American, but it is worn globally by both sexes. Less practical,
but comfortable, artistic and drop-dead elegant is Halston's "tie-dyed"
inspired caftan evening dress, circa 1975.

This
exhibition , and the catalogue,
show how women freed themselves from centuries of baggage and
protocols, and how much what they wore reflected that change.
Clothing becomes a celebration of their new found freedom, represented
by the outfits we see women wearing today, which have a strong
emphasis on comfort as well as style. The clothes eventually complement
the lifestyle of women - who choose what they wear
- instead
forcing women to conform in "a hot house of traditions and
conventions."

Evening dress, circa 1965, by Geoffrey Beene, photo from catalgoue

Geoffrey
Beene (American, 1927-2004) "asserted his interest in twentieth century
art in methods both subtle, as in regardig the body-garment
relationship from artistic perspectives such as Cubism, and obvious, by
preempting imagery. The iconic leaf forms inspired by the late
work of Henri Matrisse, known as "cutouts," dominate this dress
design," the catalogue notes, adding that "Beene echoes the curvilinear
shapes in the low U-cut of the front bodice and the petal forms at the
hem."

Wedding ensemble, 1930, Callot Soeurs, photo from catalogue

One
of the most beautiful dresses in in the catalogue is a 1930 wedding
ensemble by Callot Soeurs (French 1895-1937). In its description
of this dress, the catalogue observes that "The influence of Asian and
Islamic designs featured prominently in Callot Soeurs clothing.
Evoking the rippling waters of a Japanese landscape, the bias-cut
cathedral -lenth train of this otherwise quintessential example of
1930s glamour is woked with a concentric scallop pattern, adding
definition andcharacter to the extravagance of its dimensions."

Model as
Muse at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art review by Michele Leight (6/29/09)